Bitcoin kicked off the New Year with a strong surge on Tuesday, surpassing $45,000 for the first time since April 2022. The rise is fueled by optimism surrounding the potential approval of exchange-traded spot bitcoin funds, the largest cryptocurrency globally.
Bitcoin’s impressive performance in 2023, with a 156% gain and a 21-month high of $45,532, contrasts with its record high of $69,000 in November 2021. Despite this, it showed a 3.5% increase to $45,727, according to Reuters.
Ether, the token linked to the Ethereum blockchain, also experienced growth, rising 2.6% to $2,414 on Tuesday after a 91% increase in 2023.
Cryptocurrency stocks, closely tied to bitcoin’s price, rebounded in US premarket trading after facing losses in the final trading days of 2022. Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital, and CleanSpark saw gains ranging from 11.3% to 14.8%. Coinbase, a US cryptocurrency exchange, rose by 6.3%, and MicroStrategy, a software company and bitcoin investor, surged by 9.4%.
Investors are closely monitoring the potential authorization of a spot bitcoin ETF by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The approval could attract significant investments and broaden market accessibility. While the SEC has previously rejected multiple proposals for spot bitcoin ETFs due to concerns about market manipulation, recent signals suggest a more favorable stance. A decision on the 13 planned spot bitcoin ETFs is expected in early January.
